Massage table

ABSTRACT

A massage table which features a traversing roller or series of rollers to follow the spinal column from the lower back to the neck region. The massage roller or rollers follow a contoured cam means which produce the desired rise and fall at the various regions of the back. The massage roller is also resiliently cushioned. The machine is self-reversing.

United States Patent Hill [451 May 23, 1972 [54] MASSAGE TABLE 2,874,6892/ 1959 Gavelek 1 28/33 3,523,524 8/1970 Wilson 128/58 [72] Inventor:Menno E. Hill, 806 Harbor Island, Clearwater, Fla. 33515 PrimaryExaminerL. W. Trapp [22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1971 AttorneyB. P.F1shburne,.lr. [21] Appl. No.: 113,308 [57] ABSTRACT A massage tablewhich features a traversing roller or series of rollers to follow thespinal column from the lower back to the [521 :LS. Cl ..128/52, 128/57neck region The massage roller or rollers follow a contoured [51] If.C]. cam means which produce the desired rise and at the vari [58] Fieldof Search ..128/51, 52, 33, 70, 71, 58 (ms regions f the back Themassage roller is also resiliently cushioned. The machine isself-reversing.

[56] References Cited 14 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,660,999 12/1953 Thornton ..128/33 PATENTEDMAY 2 3 I972 SHEEP 3[IF 3 INVENTOR MENNO E, HILL BY gaz wwwa ATTORNEY MASSAGE TABLE Theprior art contains a number of teachings pertaining to massage tablesand couches, including arrangements of rotating, undulating andreciprocating rollers to massage the back or other areas of the bodyrequiring treatment. Such prior art machines, while useful, have not hadthe ability to apply selective pressure and massage action to differentregions of the spinal column or to follow the natural curvature of thespinal column and therefore have not been totally effective.Additionally, the prior art mechanisms have generally tended to becomplex and heavy and therefore excessively costly in construction andnot entirely practical.

With the above in mind, it is the objective of this invention to providea back massage apparatus which is practical and economical inconstruction and which has the capability of effectively massaging thespinal column from the lower region to the neck with a selectivepressure through a massage roller having the capability of following thenatural curvatures of the spine. Additionally, the pressure exerted bythe massage roller is adjustable and variable through a wide range andthe traversing massage roller is automatically reversing when it reachesthe end of its travel.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent duringthe course of the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of amassage table embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the table with the resilient covering removed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken on line 3-3 ofFIG. 1.

' FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a similar section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 6a, 6b and 6c are diagrammatic views showing driving and reversingmeans for the massage roller.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the massage roller carriage anddriving means taken substantially on line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section, similar to FIG.3, showing a modification of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section taken on line 9-9ofFIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary vertical section showing cam adjusting means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings in detail wherein likenumerals designate like parts and referring first to FIGS. 1 through 7showing a first embodiment of the invention, the numeral designatesgenerally a massage table of sufficient size to support an adult patientlying on his or her back, the table including a stiff plywood top wall21 having a longitudinal slot 22 to allow movement of the massage roller23 lengthwise of the table along the spinal column. The roller 23 isadapted to traverse the spinal column from the small of the back throughthe neck area, as will be fully described. The body of the table 20 issufficiently deep beneath the top wall 21 to house the variouscomponents of the massage apparatus. The top of the table is covered bya resilient cushion or pad 24 of foam rubber or the like covered with athin skin of vinyl for ease of cleaning. One edge of the pad 24 may befree of attachment to the table top to facilitate lifting the pad, ifrequired.

Within the body of the table 20 lengthwise thereof and midway betweenits sides, FIG. 2, is a rigid horizontal longitudinal trackway 25including an upper pair of laterally spaced rails 26 and vertical guideflanges 27 and a lower reduced width rail 28 having vertical side walls29, as best shown in FIG. 4.

A massage roller carriage 30 of scissors-like formation operates on thetrackway 25 and this carriage comprises a pair of arms 31 arrangedclosely on opposite sides of the massage roller 23, FIG. 5, and carryingthe massage roller through a transverse horizontal shaft 32 and suitableball bearings 33. The massage roller is preferably formed ofpolyurethane having a durometer of about 30-40, although this may bevaried in some cases. The roller 23 projects upwardly through the slot22 and engages the pad 24 directly beneath the spinal column, as shownin the drawings. The lower ends of the diagonal arms 31 are connectedwith a cross member or axle 34 having wheels 35 joumaled thereon androlling on the spaced rails 26 of the trackway. The axle 34 has anintermediate rectangular block portion 36 between the arms 31, FIG. 4,for a purpose to be described.

The carriage 30 further comprises another rigid arm 37 intersecting andcrossing the arms 31 and disposed midway therebetween and pivotallyconnected with the arms 31 for scissors-like movement by a pivot element38 carrying spacer sleeves 39 between the arms 31. The lower end of thesingle arm 37 carries a pair of cam follower wheels 40 on opposite sidesthereof which roll on individually longitudinally adjustable cam plates41 and 41'. These cam plates are in side-by-side arrangement, FIG. 4,resting on the lower rail 28. Cam plate 41' has a lobe 42 for the smallof the back and a main back portion 43. The other cam plate 41 has alobe 44 for the neck area and a main back portion identical to theportion 43'. To adjust for individual spines, the cam plates 41 and 41are adjusted longitudinally along the rail 28. In some cases, a singlecontoured cam plate may be used having a personalized shape instead oftwo cam plates.

The upper end of arm 37 is pivotally secured at 45 to the yoke 46 of avertical threaded rod 47 extending through an opening in the block 36.Compression springs 48 and 48 surround the rod 47 with their lower endsresting on the block 36 and their top ends engaging a spring tensionadjusting nut 49. This nut regulates the amount of force exerted on thespine by the massage roller 23. Another adjusting nut 49' on the lowerend of rod 47 regulates the elevation or vertical travel of the massageroller by adjusting the rod 47 upwardly or downwardly. The pressure onthe spine is also regulated by changing the hardness of the roller 23.The engagement of the wheels 40 with cam plates 41 and 41' cause themassage roller to rise and fall so as to follow the natural curvature ofthe spine.

The means to move the carriage 30 on the trackway 25 comprises a belt 50engaging a sheave 51 on one end wall 52 of the table 20 and alsoengaging a drive pulley 53 driven by a motor 54 and speed reducer 55 onthe other end wall 56 of the table. The ends of the belt 50 areconnected adjustably by a pair of turnbuckles 57 and connectors or hooks58, FIG. 7, attached to the carriage arm 37 on opposite sides of thepivot element 38. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the top run of the belt 50is approximately at the elevation of the pivot 38 and the lower run ofthe belt is well below this pivot and spaced from one side of the rod 47and spring 48 and maintained in this position for smooth running withoutinterference. As the entire carriage 30 traverses the trackway 25 inopposite directions, the turnbuckles 57 and elements 58 remain with theupper run of the belt 50 and reverse their travel with the carriage 30before reaching either sheave 51 or 53.

Means to automatically reverse the travel of the carriage 30 andcarriage drive motor 54 is provided in the form of a flexible cord 59anchored to the upper run of the carriage drive belt 50 at 60 and 61.The cord 59 engages slidably through an aperture in the pivoted actuator62 of a reversing switch 63, FIG. 2. The element 59 contains a pair ofspaced knots 64 on opposite sides of the actuator 62 and the size ofthese knots prevents them from passing through the aperture of thepivoted actuator 62. Therefore, when the belt 50 is pulling the carriage30 in either direction, one knot 64 will strike the actuator 62 andpivot the same in one direction or the other, FIG. 6a or FIG. 60,operating switch 63 to reverse the drive motor 54 and change thedirection of travel of the carriage 30 and massage roller 23. In thismanner, the carriage 30 and massage roller are caused to travel back andforth longitudinally of the table 20 beneath the pad 24 for a sufficientdistance to enable the roller 23 to massage the spine completely fromthe small of the back to the neck. The motor 54 may be turned off and onby a manual switch 65 conveniently located on the table 20.

FIGS. 8-10 of the drawings show a modification of the invention whichpossesses the same ability to massage the spinal column throughout itslength with a selective and variable pressure through resilient cammingmeans and by the use of a single massage roller or several rollersacting in concert, if preferred.

In FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the massage table includes a top wall 66 having alongitudinal slot 67 to accommodate one, two or three massage rollers68, only one such roller being illustrated by the drawings. The tabletop is equipped with the same resilient pad 24, previously described.

A guideway or trough 69 for the massage roller 68, or rollers, isfixedly mounted beneath the slot 67 and contains a fixed stabilizingplate 70 having a slot 71 to receive and stabil ize plate cam sections72, 73 and 74 for the small of the back, main back portion and neckarea, respectively. These three cam sections are individually formed andthe sections 73 and 74 are pivotally linked at 75 while the section 72has a pivotal slotted connection at 76 with the intermediate cam section73, whereby the section 72 may have limited longitudinal adjustmentrelative to the other two cam sections. This will be further described.

The entire cam structure is floatingly supported on adjustable tensionriser springs 77 or combinations of springs. A pair of these springsengages the bottom of each cam section 72, 73 and 74, FIG. 8. Thesprings are mounted in housings 78 fixed to the bottom of guideway 69.The tops of the springs project through openings 79 in the bottom wall80 and engage and support the three cam sections. The springs areelevated and lowered by screw shafts 81 carrying drive pulleys 82 andengaging threaded nuts 82 pressed into the housings 78. Just above thenuts 82', each screw shaft carries a crosspin 81 supporting a washer 83against which the bottom of the spring 77 is seated. With thisarrangement, each spring can be elevated or lowered and thereforecompressed by turning its screw shaft 81. Alternatively, a spring washermay be swiveled to the upper end of each screw shaft, free to holdposition when the screw shaft is turned. Each spring is adjustedindividually by a hand wheel 84 on one side wall of the table operatinga pulley 85 drivingly connected with one pulley 82 through a cord 86 andguide sheave 87. In this manner, the cam sections may be individuallyraised and lowered at their ends and a greater or lesser massagepressure through the roller 68 may be exerted against the spine.

The means to adjust the cam section 72 longitudinally at the small ofthe back comprises a turnbuckler link 88 shown in FIG. 10 having one endsecured at 89 to the cam section 72 and its other end swiveled to abracket 90 on one end wall 91 of the massage table. The turnbuckle bodyhas an integral pulley 92 driven by a cord 93 operated from one of thepulleys 85 with suitable intervening cord guides.

The massage roll 68 includes an aluminum tube hub 94 having an outercovering or body of suitable hardness formed of polyurethane. Themassage roller has a central annular groove containing a timing gear 95whose teeth mesh with a timing gear drive belt 96, driven substantiallyin the same manner shown in the prior embodiment for the drive of thebelt 50 and having substantially similar reversing means to the meansillustrated in FIGS. 6a through 60. The upper run of the timing belt 96rides across the top edge of the sectional cam, as shown in FIGS. 8 and9. The belt 96 imparts rotation to the massage roller 68 whiletraversing the same back and forth lengthwise of the table under the pad24 in substantially the same mode of operation described for the roller23 of the previous embodiment.

One advantage of the construction in FIGS. 8 through 10 is that thescissor carriage is eliminated without loss of its basic function,namely, to apply a controllable resilient massage pressure to the spinalcolumn along its full length and to cause the massage roller to followthe natural spinecurvature by means of a cam. In this sense, themodified structure is somewhat simpler although both forms of theinvention have their own virtues.

It should be mentioned that a fixed pin 97, FIG. 8, locks the camsection 73 against endwise movement without interfering with the endwiseadjustment of cam section 72.

Instead of one roller 68, one or two more massage rollers may be droppedinto place on the belt 96 substantially at the points designated X and Yin the drawings. The massage rollers are freely disposed on the belt andmay be dropped into place or removed by simply lifting the pad 24. Ifplural massage rollers are utilized in this manner, their individualdurometers may be varied over the approximate range of 20 to 50.

Also, in some cases, the riser springs 77 and adjusting means may beeliminated and the cam sections simply shimmed up to the desired height.In such case, a softer message roller or rollers will be used tocompensate for the loss of spring support.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shownand described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scopeof the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A spinal message apparatus comprising a table-like support for apatient, said table having a longitudinal slot in its top, a massageroller adapted to move longitudinally through the slot while projectingabove the table top and engaging the spine of the patient lying on thetable, means driving the massage roller back and forth along the slotfor a sufficient distance to enable the roller to engage the spine fromthe small of the back to the neck region, and resilient camming meansacting on the massage roller during its back and forth movement andcausing the massage roller to exert a substantially constant pressure tothe spine while following substantially the natural curvature of thespine.

2. The structure of claim 1, and means to adjust the resilient cammingmeans so that the degree of said constant pressure can be regulated.

3. The structure of claim 2, and a resilient compressible pad on the topof the table covering said slot and massage roller.

4. The structure of claim 1, and said means driving the massage rollercomprising a carriage for said roller, a trackway for the carriageincluding a camming surface operable through the carriage to causerising and falling of the massage roller corresponding to the naturalcurves in the spinal column, and power means to drive the carriagelongitudinally of said slot and to reverse the movement of the carriageautomatically.

5. The structure of claim 4, and said carriage including pivotal scissorarms, the massage roller bodily supported on one arm of the carriage,cam follower means on the other arm of the carriage, and adjustableresilient means interconnecting the carriage arms and enabling themassage roller to exert an adjustable yielding pressure to the spine atall points therealong.

6. The structure of claim 4, and said power means including an endlessflexible drive element connected with the carriage, a motor meansconnected with the drive element to operate it, a reversing switch forthe motor means, and means interconnecting the reversing switch anddrive element including a lost motion connection.

7. The structure of claim 6, and the last-named means including apivoted operator for said switch having an aperture, a cord having itsends connected with the flexible drive element and having spacedenlargements on opposite sides of the pivoted operator, said cordslidable through said aperture and said enlargements resisting passagethrough the aperture and thereby causing turning of the switch operator.

8. The structure of claim 5, and said trackway having a pair of spacedrails, a pair of rollers on one arm of the carriage engaging said rails,and said cam follower means comprising at least one roller on the otherarm of the carriage engaging the following said camming surface.

9. The structure of claim 1, and said means driving the massage rollerincluding a timing gear integral with the massage roller, and a drivenflexible timing belt having teeth meshing with said timing gear.

10. The structure of claim 9, and said resilient camming means includinga sectional contoured plate cam underlying said belt and roller, andadjustable resilient supports individual to the sections of the platecam.

11. The structure of claim 10, and the adjustable resilient supportscomprising a series of springs underlying the sections of the plate cam,and manually operable means to raise and lower the springs and therebyadjust their tension.

12. The structure of claim 11, and said plate cam sections beingarticulated and at least one section adjustable longitudinally withrespect to the other sections, and manually operable means to adjustsaid one section longitudinally.

13. The structure of claim 9, and said massage roller freely disposedwithin said slot of the table top and resting freely on the top run ofthe timing belt, the latter sliding on the upper contoured edges of asectional cam underlying the timing belt, the arrangement being suchthat additional massage rollers may be placed upon the timing belt andwithin said slot in spaced relation for massaging a patients spine atplural spaced points of contact with the plural massage rollerstraversing the spinal column along substantially its entire length.

14. The structure of claim 1, and said resilient camming means includinga pair of side-by-side longitudinally adjustable cam plates havingcontoured lobes, said means driving the massage roller comprising acarriage having follower rollers riding on the cam plates.

1. A spinal message apparatus comprising a table-like support for apatient, said table having a longitudinal slot in its top, a massageroller adapted to move longitudinally through the slot while projectingabove the table top and engaging the spine of the patient lying on thetable, means driving the massage roller back and forth along the slotfor a sufficient distance to enable the roller to engage the spine fromthe small of the back to the neck region, and resilient camming meansacting on the massage roller during its back and forth movement andcausing the massage roller to exert a substantially constant pressure tothe spine while following substantially the natural curvature of thespine.
 2. The structure of claim 1, and means to adjust the resilientcamming means so that the degree of said constant pressure can beregulated.
 3. The structure of claim 2, and a resilient compressible padon the top of the table covering said slot and massage roller.
 4. Thestructure of claim 1, and said means driving the massage rollercomprising a carriage for said roller, a trackway for the carriageincluding a camming surface operable through the carriage to causerising and falling of the massage roller corresponding to the naturalcurves in the spinal column, and power means to drive the carriagelongiTudinally of said slot and to reverse the movement of the carriageautomatically.
 5. The structure of claim 4, and said carriage includingpivotal scissor arms, the massage roller bodily supported on one arm ofthe carriage, cam follower means on the other arm of the carriage, andadjustable resilient means interconnecting the carriage arms andenabling the massage roller to exert an adjustable yielding pressure tothe spine at all points therealong.
 6. The structure of claim 4, andsaid power means including an endless flexible drive element connectedwith the carriage, a motor means connected with the drive element tooperate it, a reversing switch for the motor means, and meansinterconnecting the reversing switch and drive element including a lostmotion connection.
 7. The structure of claim 6, and the last-named meansincluding a pivoted operator for said switch having an aperture, a cordhaving its ends connected with the flexible drive element and havingspaced enlargements on opposite sides of the pivoted operator, said cordslidable through said aperture and said enlargements resisting passagethrough the aperture and thereby causing turning of the switch operator.8. The structure of claim 5, and said trackway having a pair of spacedrails, a pair of rollers on one arm of the carriage engaging said rails,and said cam follower means comprising at least one roller on the otherarm of the carriage engaging the following said camming surface.
 9. Thestructure of claim 1, and said means driving the massage rollerincluding a timing gear integral with the massage roller, and a drivenflexible timing belt having teeth meshing with said timing gear.
 10. Thestructure of claim 9, and said resilient camming means including asectional contoured plate cam underlying said belt and roller, andadjustable resilient supports individual to the sections of the platecam.
 11. The structure of claim 10, and the adjustable resilientsupports comprising a series of springs underlying the sections of theplate cam, and manually operable means to raise and lower the springsand thereby adjust their tension.
 12. The structure of claim 11, andsaid plate cam sections being articulated and at least one sectionadjustable longitudinally with respect to the other sections, andmanually operable means to adjust said one section longitudinally. 13.The structure of claim 9, and said massage roller freely disposed withinsaid slot of the table top and resting freely on the top run of thetiming belt, the latter sliding on the upper contoured edges of asectional cam underlying the timing belt, the arrangement being suchthat additional massage rollers may be placed upon the timing belt andwithin said slot in spaced relation for massaging a patient''s spine atplural spaced points of contact with the plural massage rollerstraversing the spinal column along substantially its entire length. 14.The structure of claim 1, and said resilient camming means including apair of side-by-side longitudinally adjustable cam plates havingcontoured lobes, said means driving the massage roller comprising acarriage having follower rollers riding on the cam plates.